Woman wants to stop paying alimony after ex won lottery

Although divorce formally ends a marriage, there are many factors that might continue to tie two ex-spouses to one another. From sharing children to making child support or alimony payments, many divorced couples are at least temporarily still linked together. However, there might be times when it is appropriate for a person in West Virginia to petition the court in order to have their alimony payments altered or even stopped altogether.

An out-of-state woman is apparently trying to find a way in which she could stop paying alimony to her ex-husband. The 53-year-old woman finalized her divorce in Oct. 2018 and has been paying him monthly alimony ever since. She was the primary breadwinner during their marriage of 15 years and is set to continue paying him support for about five more years.

However, her ex-husband recently won a $162.5 million lottery. After realizing that her ex had recently come into millions of dollars, she spoke with news outlets to express that she hoped she could stop paying him support. The woman also said that she was not trying to get any of his winning money, but that she hoped him winning the lottery would help her case for ending payments.

It is not clear if she has petitioned the courts yet, but doing so is generally the first step to having payments modified or stopped. However, West Virginia family law courts generally base alimony on a number of factors, including the length of the marriage, who earned more and each person’s earning potential. With so many factors in the mix, figuring out whether any financial changes might help a person’s petition is not always straightforward, so working with an experienced counsel can be helpful.